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The Columbus Michelin Guide: 15 Restaurants Worthy of Recognition
By Jamie Dutton | Aug. 14, 2025
AUTHOR BIO: With family spread across the Midwest and a job that has her in airports regularly, Jamie Dutton finds herself across the center of the U.S. regularly. She’s partial to BPTs a Bell's.
The Michelin Guide still hasn’t come to Columbus. Maybe someday it will, once the inspectors finally realize what’s happening here: a quietly confident dining scene where chefs aren’t chasing trends or tweezer plating their way into oblivion.
Instead, they’re doing something harder—building restaurants people actually want to eat in. So we did what Michelin hasn’t. We ate our way across the city to figure out which spots are truly star-worthy. Not just the white-tablecloth places, but the cozy neighborhood haunts, the genre-bending upstarts, and the places where the food is so good it makes you forget where you are.
If Michelin ever does show up, we’ve got their list ready, with these restaurants below, all of the Michelin-quality restaurants in Columbus.
Agni
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Chef‑owner Avishar Barua—2025 James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef: Great Lakes—not only weaves Bengali‑American roots into every plate, he serves storytelling tasting menus that range from a French onion chaat with jhalmuri crunch to a Gosht Jhol that fuses his mother’s goat curry with beef stroganoff over Sardinian malloreddus, and finishes with a café con pan bread pudding that tastes like home. It’s fiercely personal, boundary-bending, and earned a spot on Bon Appétit’s Best New Restaurants of 2024 list.
What it deserves: Michelin Star
Alchemy Kitchen
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Chef‑founders Alexis Joseph and Abed Alshahal have quietly turned wellness into a full-sensory affair: expect things like smoky beet‑tahini grain bowls and turbo‑charged green smoothies that taste like someone ACTUALLY cared about how you’ll feel tomorrow. Their menus rotate with the seasons, backed by a team of chefs and a registered dietitian—and yes, they source everything from local farms so you know every bite feeds a purpose. No James Beard nods here yet, but it’s exactly the kind of thoughtful, rooted cooking Michelin would applaud.
What it deserves: Michelin Recommended
Alqueria
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Co-owners and chef-partners Jacob Hough and Patrick Marker (both veterans of Barcelona Columbus) have turned a century-old University District farmhouse into a warm, refined rustic dining room serving standout dishes like braised lamb shank over mascarpone‑kissed potato purée, crispy Brussels sprouts laced with smoky blue cheese and apricot gastrique, and a fried‑green‑tomato starter with pimento cheese and hot honey that feels both playful and grounded. The menu changes seasonally, but the relaxed confidence of each dish stays constant—well-sourced, deeply satisfying, and never trying too hard. No James Beard noms yet, but this is exactly the kind of unpretentious, heartfelt cooking that Michelin would give a damn about.
What it deserves: Michelin Star
Chapman’s Eat Market
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At Chapman’s Eat Market, chef BJ Lieberman (a 2024 James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef: Great Lakes) riffs on globally inspired comfort food with a rotating menu—think General Tso’s cauliflower that’s both zippy and soulful, or a silky khao soi that’ll stop you mid‑bite. It’s the kind of restaurant where history meets hustle—housed in the old Max & Erma’s and reinvented with care. You don’t feel like you’re in a showy spot; you feel like you’re in on something real.
What it deserves: Bib Gourmand
Comune
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Chef Matt Harper—who cut his teeth under a James Beard–winning chef in Atlanta and refined his craft at Zahav and Kensington Quarters in Philadelphia—now helms Comune with a thoughtfully seasonal, plant-forward menu that’s built for sharing. Think crispy rice with kimchi and tahina, black garlic cacio e pepe, or a show‑stopping eggplant schnitzel plated with amba tahina and za’atar that feels both daring and deeply comforting. It’s the kind of quietly confident cooking that turns even die-hard carnivores into believers.
What it deserves: Michelin Star
Gene’s
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Chef Bobby Moore—a seasoned veteran with training from the Québec Institute of Tourism & Hospitality—brings seasonal New‑American flair to historic Dublin, turning every plate into a story. From a whipped ricotta and grilled sourdough starter that feels simple but incendiary, to an inventive eggplant tonkatsu nestled atop tangy yogurt and sumac, every dish strikes a balance between comfort and surprise. It’s polished without pretense, and though it hasn’t worked the James Beard circuit yet, this is the kind of thoughtful cooking with quiet swagger that deserves notice.
What it deserves: Michelin Star
HARU Omakase
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Executive Chef Yudi Makassau—who heads the kitchen under the ownership of the Fukuryu team—has quietly turned Polaris into Columbus’s most anticipated omakase spot. The five-course Tour leans heavily on hyper-fresh seafood—think bluefin tuna handrolls, king salmon kissed with black truffle, and an assured finale in matcha crème brûlée that feels like a gentle mic drop. It’s intimate (just a handful of seats) and precise, anchored in tradition but loosened up with modern flair.
What it deserves: Michelin Star
Lola & Giuseppe’s Trattoria
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At Lola & Giuseppe’s—run by a warm, family‑driven kitchen—you’ll find swoon‑worthy plates like pillowy handmade gnocchi and a wildly addictive onion soup topped with bubbling cheese. It’s old-world Italian soul on a plate, no frills but overflowing with flavor—just like your Nonna would make if she lit up every pillow you sat on. Chef's love, not technique theater, is the through line here.
What it deserves: Michelin Recommended
Novella
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Chef Matthew Phelan, a local-raised CIA grad who planted his roots back home in Powell, writes Italian classics with a minimalist’s precision: meatballs that melt like butter in a bold pomodoro, house‑made rigatoni bathed in slow‑braised short‑rib ragu, and orecchiette scattered with Calabrian sausage and burrata that lands like a warm hug. It’s rustic, unpretentious, but executed with a discipline that says every ingredient earned its place. No James Beard nods yet, but Columbus would be lucky to have this as its unofficial trattoria.
What it deserves: Bib Gourmand
The Refectory
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Chef Richard Blondin trained under French legends like Pierre Orsi and Paul Bocuse, and he has steered Columbus's most venerable fine‑dining institution for over three decades, turning sauces into three‑day works of art and serving game like pheasant or ostrich with a steady, elegant hand. The food feels timeless but never stale—each plate nails that rare mix of tradition, theater, and precision that makes you lean in. With its AAA Four‑Diamond legacy, Grand Wine Spectator Award, and candle‑lit, church‑converted space, it’s old-school elegance that keeps getting more refined, not tired.
What it deserves: Michelin Star
Service Bar
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Chef James Tuckey has been elevating the kitchen at Service Bar for the past two years, turning dishes like his Spring Pea Gnudi into little masterclasses in flavor and restraint. The restaurant—attached to Middle West Spirits—still balances that laid-back energy with sharply executed plates, whether it’s a lamb shoulder pastrami or an umami-rich dry-aged duck. Avishar Barua may have moved on to Agni and Joya’s, but Service Bar hasn’t missed a beat.
What it deserves: Michelin Recommended
Speck Italian Eatery
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Chef Josh Dalton—fresh off the success of Veritas—has quietly turned Speck into downtown's lovable pasta lab, with daily-made noodles playing host to wild mash‑ups like mussels in a spicy broth alongside house-baked scacciata meant for dunking. It’s casual, it’s vibrant, and yet every bite feels precise and electric—not to mention, locals are already racing for seconds. No James Beard nods yet, but the buzz says it’s only a matter of time.
What it deserves: Bib Gourmand
Veritas
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Helmed by chef Josh Dalton, Veritas delivers refined, ingredient-driven dishes like exquisitely seared scallops and seasonal risotto that feel quietly elevated. The mood is elegant without being aloof, and the attention to texture and balance gives you that tasting‑menu polish without pretense. It’s not chasing sparks; it’s mastering the craft in an honest way.
What it deserves: Michelin Star
Watershed Kitchen + Bar
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Hiding behind the distillery’s polished bourbon operation is a dining room where chef Aaron Lawrence spins out elegant Midwestern plates like confit chicken with sweet corn purée and perfectly grilled strip steak with bourbon demi. It’s refined but not fussy, with cocktails that rival anything in New York and a staff that actually seems to like being there. The food’s been getting better each year—and while no James Beard nods yet, it’s the kind of place that makes Michelin inspectors wish they had more stars to hand out.
What it deserves: Michelin Star
Wolf’s Ridge Brewing
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Sure, it’s a brewery—but the food is no afterthought. Chef Seth Lassak puts out composed dishes like mushroom toast with truffle cream and duck breast over farro that go well beyond pub grub, and the weekend brunch draws serious crowds for chilaquiles and the OG cinnamon roll. It’s not quite fine dining, but it’s the rare place where you’ll want a saison in one hand and a forkful of foie gras in the other.
What it deserves: Michelin Recommended
